Page 3 of Frigid Mountain Man
Natalie, my eldest sister, was married to Steve, and they had two kids, five-year-old Bella and three-year-old Peter. The second oldest is my sister Isabella, or Izzy, for short. She’s married to Will but has no kids yet and hasn’t said if she wanted any.
Then there was me. The baby of the family who had a kid at nineteen and now rocked the single mom life. But I wouldn’t change a damn thing. My son was everything I needed and then some, even if his father wasn’t around.
The jerk took off as soon as I told him the news and still had yet to come around. But it didn’t matter, as there was plenty of love to go around in my family. Our parents were still happily married and in love, and my sisters and I visited them on the regular. That’s what I wanted. A happy marriage, like my parents and my sisters.
My son deserved a dad, a man who would care for him as his own.
“Why would she be looking for someone? That makes no sense, Nat.” Isabella, the ever reasonable one, tried to diffuse the situation like she always did.
“Yeah, exactly. That makes no sense.”
Natalie gave us both the stink eye and crossed her arms over her chest. “I know what I saw. Including when you were talking to a guy earlier.”
I laughed.Dammit, she saw me.
My older sister was nosy as all hell, but she meant well. Most of the time. “You mean the guy in line for food? He was helping when Leo was losing his shit overseeing the horses.”
Izzy’s eyes lit up. Great, now they’re on the same side. “A guy? Do tell!”
“There’snothingto tell. Except there’s no way he’s from around here or I would’ve remembered.”
Izzy clapped her hands so loud I jumped. “Oh snap! We’re onto something here, Nat! I feel it in my bones.”
“I knew it. I so knew it. C’mon, sis, what’s his name?”
I looked between them and shook my head. “You two are ridiculous.”
“Why? Because we want our sister happy and in love? I know how much Todd broke your heart. But that was four years ago. You got a lovely son out of the deal. Now let’s find you a new man to share your life with.” Natalie said, while Izzy nodded in agreement.
The mere mention of Todd’s name left a bad taste in my mouth. But my sisters were right. He didn’t take up space in my mind anymore and without him, I wouldn’t have my adorable son.
Yet who I brought around him was important. Dating took up a lot of time, time I never seemed to have. Between work and my child, and regular old life crap, there wasn’t much time left for me.
“Thank you to both of you. But I’ll find someone, the right someone, when I’m ready. He needs to be right for Leo, too. Not just myself.”
Izzy wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “You’re such a good mom, Liv. Leo is a lucky boy.”
“Thanks, Iz. He’s got two pretty amazing aunts, too.” I smiled at Natalie who watched her own kids, a fondness in her expression. “Nat’s got me beat on the mom front, though. Haveyou seen the dog and cat pancakes she makes? Leo never shuts up about them.”
Natalie beamed at me. “They’re pretty cool, right?”
We spent another half hour at the carnival games before calling it a night.
“See you in the morning!” I said to both of my sisters as we hugged and kissed goodbye.
Once I put Leo to bed, I planned on taking a warm bubble bath, pouring myself a glass of wine, and binge reading the latest psych thriller novel I couldn’t get enough of.
The morning came quick when you had to drag ass out of bed and get your pie shop going. My sisters and I ran our own little diner called Sweet Temptations, and we opened every day of the week. The menu was only pies, all different varieties, from sweet to savory. Customers could enjoy a slice there, take one to go, or buy whole pies. With Thanksgiving only a couple of months away, our busy season was fast approaching. With so many pie orders, I’ve hired others to help with baking and packing instead of trying to do it myself.
It was a lot, but it had become such a family affair with everyone pitching in, that things went a lot smoother. I baked the pies and created the menus, Isabella ran the front end, taking orders, serving slices, and running the register, while Natalie ran the business side of things, with the accounting and inventory tasks belonging to her along with ordering supplies and keeping us well stocked.
After a few kinks, we were off and running and more successful than we could’ve ever imagined.
As I sunk beneath the warm bubbles, my phone buzzed with a text. The group chat with my two sisters, aptly named Three crazy brunettes, popped up.
Natalie- I did a little digging. His name is miles Anderson, and he was just hired as the new lumberjack on the ranch. Maybe take Leo to see the horses?!
Isabella- Good work, sis. I agree on the horse idea
